[danfinn1]

Now I know this may sound a silly question but for the last two years of keeping chickens, (never did it before) I have always shut them in a night.

Well, since the weather has warmed up and our new hen is in residence I have not shut the coop door at night. Speccy spends her mornings and night in a run with a tarp over one end. No way to shut her in, yet she seems quite happy and contented, giving us a lovelly clean brown egg every day except the 12th day. Hen the old one seems quite contented too and instead of laying at midday now lays at about 9am.

I still cannot trust my old hen to overnight with the new one so separate lodgings is the order of the day, in winter I may keep speccy in the dog cage again, but this weather now it is too warm inside so she is better outside under the tarp in the run .

Any advice folks?

I am thinking of building a plywood coop for the end of her run and then it would not blow away in a storm

[Mr R Design]

If a fox can get under the tarp then not a good idea if it can't then should be ok.

If there isn't a perch for her it might be a good idea to fabricate something.

My coop entrance goes directly into a run and I never shut the door. The door does not get any direct wind that might upset them and I just leave them to it.

[GrannieAnnie]

I think predators are the main reason for shutting them in at night, and in the winter, keeping the warmth in for them.

Saying that, our friend Joyfull on here had a lot of chickens, and they nearly all spurned their coops for the trees around her garden, summer AND winter!   

[Sassy]

A fox could get through the tarp

[Chrysalis]

Shutting our hens in stops them getting up too early to annoy the neighbours.

Mr Fox can't get at them, because they're enclosed, but they like to be up with the dawn and start grumbling to be fed....

[Beekissed]

I never shut my birds up, but I have a free range system with two dogs to protect them.  If I had a secure coop and run, I might not shut the pop door either...it all depends on if the run were truly predator proof.  We have bears here, so not likely to be able to keep out bears, no matter how strong the run was built.  Hence the dogs. 

[New shoot]

and we think we have problems with foxes 

I shut mine it, but mainly to keep the boys quiet until a decent hour.  They know 7am is release time, so you rarely hear them before then summer or winter.  I don't know how they tell the time, but somehow they know.

[Kate and her Ducks]

Foxes are not the only predators to worry about. In a misunderstanding with my OH (both of us thought the other had shut the ducks in) I woke up to chaos at 1am this morning and a badger was trying to drag away one of the ducks. Sadly too badly injured and had to be euthanised and no one to blame but ourselves. To be fair, if it had been a bear I would have let it have the duck!

[snowdrops]

Goodness what a shock for you all. I had no idea badgers would take ducks/chicken. So sorry for you all.

[Kate and her Ducks]

I know, I was pretty surprised, wouldn't have thought a badger would have managed to catch one but guess once he had cornered them they have such strong jaws and they are omnivores. Still can't bring myself to hate him, such lovely creatures and entirely my fault for not putting them away.

[New shoot]

Not a situation you want to wake up to 

I think badgers are pretty enterprising and will take an opportunity if they spot one.  That's what makes them adaptable to switching to urban living like foxes.  I know they will scavenge road kill if they find it, but I haven't heard of them going for poultry before. 

[Sassy]

Stoats and weasels will also take chickens along with mink if you have them - you may not know!

[Willow_Warren]

Mine are in a secure run but I still shut in the coop at night.  I believe that if the door to the coop is open it is more attrative to foxes.

A few weeks back I forgot to shut the coop door and come morning (about 7am) there was a fox on top of the run.  Everyone safe and sound, but was it a conincidence??

Hannah

p.s. i then woke the whole neighbourhood by shouting like a loonie out of the bathroom window.